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Parks and Recreation Collection – Narratives

Category: Tourism and events

tourism; events management; festivals; sporting events; ecotourism; cultural events

MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy 2025 – 2035

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MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy

 

Land managers, primarily councils, put a lot of assets into parks and reserves. Sports infrastucture, amenity buildings, playspaces. One of the most significant assets that we provide in our parks are public toilets. Public toilets are built in our parks because it is the only land that councils own, but more importantly, parks are major attractors for visitors, and it is people that are away from their homes, spending long periods of time, that are the main users of public toilets.

 

MidCoast Council has just adopted its new MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy. We have 108 public toilets in total, and 106 of them are in our parks and reserves. This represents a major investiment, with a single public toilet costing a minimum of $250,000, but often are closer to a million dollars. When you have a hundred of them that is a massive CAPEX investment. But public toilets are also our most expensive OPEX asset as well. They have to be cleaned once or twice a day. And they are also the target of vandalism, with cisterns being broken on a regular basis.

 

A public toilet strategy is a critical planning mechanism, as part of a larger parks planning portfolio.

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Posted in Infrastructure, facilities and urban environments, Leisure activities, Open space and recreation areas, Planning, policy and legislation, Service provision, Tourism and events | Leave a reply

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning Presentation

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Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning

 

This is a presentation that I gave at the Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) 2024 National Conference in Brisbane.

The presentation outlines the portfolio approach to planning for parks and recreation.

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Posted in Health, fitness and well-being, Infrastructure, facilities and urban environments, Leisure activities, Management and governance, Natural resources and environment, Open space and recreation areas, Organised sport, Planning, policy and legislation, Tourism and events | Leave a reply

World Urban Parks Congress

Updated on date by author

World Urban Parks holds an annual congress. Documents can be found on the respective websites, and PDFs are linked below where PaRC has been able to obtain them.

Congress in Kazan, Russia (2019)

Kazan is a Russian city and the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. Kazan is identified as a growing, dynamic city with significant opportunities for improved liveability; Kazan has already been placed in the top 10 most sustainably developed cities in the Russian Federation. Since 2016 the Institute for Urban Development of the Republic of Tatarstan has been implementing the Program for the Development of Public Spaces, under which more than 300 parks, embankments, pedestrian streets, public gardens and squares in all municipal districts of the region were improved.

The principles of sustainable development are reflected in Kazan’s long-term development strategies — from transport, housing and energy- saving technologies to the support of park, cultural and social programs.

The Congress website (alive as at Jan. 2024) includes a link to a Congress video and a program with abstracts. It is understood that a report of the proceedings in English exists but the hotlink is no longer alive.

 

Congress in Monterrey, Mexico (2022)

Alternative links: Congress website via blog and via index.php here. The Event Objective is described as: “World Urban Parks aims to gather and train professionals, public officials, housing developers, decision makers, industry suppliers, students and non-governmental organizations in one place. It is a space that allows you to create collaborative networks with industry leaders around the world.” Click here for the program.

 

Congress in Adelaide, Australia (2023)

The Congress, themed Sustainable Places: Spaces, People and Habitats, was held in Adelaide in October 2023 jointly with Parks and Leisure Australia. The Adelaide Statement is posted on a separate page.

 

Congress in Utrecht, Netherlands (2024)

Congress website. More to come.

 

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Open Gardens Scheme

Updated on date by author

In 2014 Open Gardens Australia announced that it would cease to operate the national scheme after June 2015. This leaflet explains its operations. The Wikipedia entry explains its history and related organisations.

Open Gardens SA was incorporated in December 2014 to continue the Open Garden Scheme in South Australia and Open Gardens Victoria was launched in 2015, as volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisations that assist garden owners to open their private gardens to the public and also organise gardening and horticultural themed events.

 

 

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Australian Heritage Parks Association

Updated on date by author

The Australian Heritage Parks Association was a national group representing the owners and managers of theme parks with a heritage theme. Members as at 1986 are listed in the 1986 Conference program.

PaRC has not been able to contact the former office-bearers. The group’s company registration was terminated in 2008. Any former office-bearer or member representative is invited to improve this stub of a narrative.

6th Biennial Conference – Echuca

PaRC has uncovered some papers from its 6th Biennial Conference, held at Echuca, Victoria in 1986, including a list of attendees.

Reference in the National Library of Australia catalogue.

Funding the Dream by keynote Crawford Lincoln

Preserving Technologies by T.J. Hobson

Historic Buildings and the Heritage Park by Allan Willingham

Knowing Your Visitor: A Survey of Visitor Types by Philip Pearce

Management Structures and Systems for Resolving Conflict by Paul Power.

 

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Cultural heritage and awareness, Education, outreach and advocacy, Narratives, Tourism and events | Leave a reply